The Porsche 99X Electric has proven to be the benchmark car package in Season 9 with Pascal Wehrlein winning twice in the first three races to lead the Drivers’ World Championship and putting his Porsche Team at the top of the Teams’ standings.
Great Britain’s Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti, the Porsche customer team, is 24 points behind Wehrlein in second and under pressure from Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, just a point back in third after three consecutive appearances on the podium.
Double champion Jean-Éric Vergne, DS PENSKE, is only two points away in fourth having steered to a textbook defensive victory in Hyderabad and finished a close second in Cape Town.
Jaguar's I-TYPE 6 has emerged as the strongest competitor to the Porsche-powered cars since Round 4 in India. Cassidy has led the charge for Jaguar customer Envision Racing who sit just behind the German manufacturer in the standings.
The factory Jaguar TCS Racing team finally capitalised on its race-winning pace and energy management for a 1-3 result last time out in São Paulo as Mitch Evans and teammate Sam Bird took to the podium together.
They find themselves 42 and 46 points from top spot in the Drivers' table but with plenty of racing still to come, the Berlin races will complete the first half of Season 9, in Formula E, everything can change.
António Félix da Costa, Porsche, had seen race strategies torn up in the early season, contact at Turns 1 and 2 in Diriyah is a prime example, and had fallen away from Wehrlein despite piloting a Porsche.
But da Costa has gained on his German teammate with a podium in India then a stunning last gasp victory in Cape Town with an unforgettable move on former teammate Vergne.
Da Costa has proven himself in Berlin with two wins in the Season 6 finale propelling him to the title.
Only he, Sébastien Buemi, Envision Racing, and Lucas di Grassi, Mahindra Racing, have taken the top step at Tempelhof more than once in Formula E.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne, DS PENSKE, sits 11th in the standings, more than 60 points back. Retaining the title now looks like a distant dream but he has form around Tempelhof with a win and two podiums to his name. Dominating the double-header in Berlin would put the Belgian firmly back in contention.
Berlin is the only city to have hosted a race in every season of Formula E, 16 in total. The 2.4km Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit on the outskirts of the German capital city is a unique challenge for the teams and drivers, and a favourite of many.
Tackling the high-grip and energy sapping concrete slabs initially designed for aircraft - not cutting-edge electric race cars, means the Hankook tyres will be pushed to their limits on the abrasive surface.
Phil Charles, Technical Manager, Jaguar TCS Racing, said: "Berlin is a unique race event for the championship - some long and fast corners and an unusual track surface. I call the surface ‘pebblemac’ as it is actually made up of large concrete blocks with stones, the pebbles, pressed into the top surface."
"These stones are aggressive on the tyres and although it is a short lap, the percentage of time spent cornering is quite high so car setups need to compliment the corner type. In addition, it's a tricky energy management race so there is plenty to think about in Berlin but it’s a great track to go to."
WHEN TO WATCH
Free Practice 1 for the SABIC Berlin E-Prix gets underway at 17:00 MK/CET on Friday 21 April.
Free Practice 2 starts at 08:10 MK/CET on Saturday followed by qualifying from 10:40 MK/CET. Round 7 of Season 9 gets underway from 15:00 MK/CET.
Free Practice 3 kicks off on Sunday morning at 08:10 MK/CET with qualifying at 10:40 MK/CET. Round 8 gets underway from 15:00 MK/CET.
WAYS TO WATCH
EUROPE
GERMANY: Both races will be live on Formula E’s home, ProSieben. Fans will also be able to catch free practice sessions and qualifying live on Ran.de. As usual, the Ran Racing team will be reporting from site, telling all the key stories direct from the paddock.
UK: Watch the action from both races live on Channel 4. All sessions will also be live on the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel. Eurosport 2 will also be covering both races live with extensive highlights. Discovery+ will also bring UK based fans dedicated coverage from all sessions.
FRANCE: Fans can catch live race action on L’Equipe.fr, with delayed race action from Saturday’s race on La Chaine L’Equipe. Sunday’s race will be live on La Chaine L’Equipe and L’Equipe.fr, with dedicated build up and analysis. The team from L’Equipe will also be on-site in Berlin, giving fans in France all of the latest news from the paddock. Eurosport 1 will also show both races live whilst Eurosport.com will be showing all sessions live.
ITALY: Saturday’s race will be live on Mediaset’s Channel 20, whilst Sunday’s race will be live on Italia Uno. All sessions available live on SportMediaset.it .Sky Sports will also show the qualifying and race sessions live on Sky Sports Arena with all sessions across their digital platforms, and dedicated news coverage across the weekend.
NETHERLANDS: Enjoy all sessions on Ziggo Sport Racing, with highlights covered across Ziggo Sport, Select and Racing. Eurosport 2 will also be providing live coverage across the weekend on linear and digital channels with highlights covered on Eurosport 2.
MACEDONIA, REST OF EUROPE: Across the remainder of Europe (excl. Italy), all sessions will be live across Eurosport’s linear and digital platforms. Eurosport will provide bespoke, live coverage of the race on Eurosport 2, whilst all sessions will be live on Discovery + / Eurosport.com and Eurosport Extra. These platforms will also provide a one-stop destination for all Formula E fans’ catch-up needs. Race highlights will be covered on Eurosport 1.
AMERICAS
USA: CBS will show Saturday’s race across their free-to-air network channel on a delayed basis. Free practice sessions and qualifying will be live on CBSSports.com as well as the CBS Sports App. Sunday’s race will be live on CBS Sports Network.
CANADA: TVA Sports and TSN 5 / TSN 2 will show the race action from Berlin in French and English, respectively.
MEXICO: Fans can continue to enjoy coverage on Fox Sports 3, Claro Sports, and Azteca Deportes, with Claro Sports providing further coverage across Latin America.
BRAZIL: Fans in Brazil can catch all SABIC Berlin ePrix race action across Band TV and BandSports along with digital coverage on BandPlay and bandsports.com.br
No comments:
Post a Comment